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Detroit Lions vs. Pittsburgh Steelers: Live updates, highlights from preseason finale
Why Detroit Lion Giovanni Manu’s first NFL game was so special
Detroit Lion Giovanni Manu played in his first NFL game in August, 2024. That game was special because it was a chance to make his parents proud.
The final Detroit Lions preseason game has arrived.
The Lions take on the Pittsburgh Steelers at Ford Field on Saturday afternoon in the final exhibition game of the preseason. It is the final chance for the coaching staff and front office to determine who will make the opening day 53-man roster for the season opener against the Rams in 15 days.
PREGAME READ: ‘Miracle child’ Mitchell Agude vying for spot with Detroit Lions years after accident
There aren’t many spots left up for grabs on the Lions’ contending-level roster, a testament to the roster overhaul in the last three seasons, but Campbell said earlier this week there were around a half-dozen slots still open. The Lions’ starters will rest, allowing young players and the depth pieces to fight for those spots. Here’s Dave Birkett’s prediction of what the 53-man roster may look like by the deadline at 4 p.m. on Tuesday if you are curious.
[ Lions fans: Get ready for this season by reliving the team’s epic 2023 season with a new book from the Free Press, “From Grit to Glory.” Order now! ]
This is the only preseason game this year at Ford Field and kicks off at 1 p.m. The game will be aired on Fox 2 in Detroit (WJBK) and streamed on NFL+ and Fubo (free trial) and the 97.1 WXYT-FM radio airwaves.
Follow along below for live updates from Ford Field.
Detroit Lions vs. Pittsburgh Steelers preseason live updates, highlights
The Lions have had no success on offense in the first half with Hendon Hooker running the show. The Lions went three-and-out again after a third-down sack sank the drive again. This time, left tackle Giovanni Manu was beaten off the edge, forcing Hooker to step up into edge rusher Julius Welschof, who beat center Kingsley Eguakun in the middle. The Lions have seven net yards after four possessions with two first downs and are 2/6 on third-down conversion attempts. The Lions have given up four sacks and Hooker has struggled to find a rhythm navigating the collapsing pocket.
The Steelers quickly turned the fumble into a touchdown to double up the Lions early. Justin Fields came into the game for the second series to replace Russell Wilson under center. The Steelers kept the ball on the ground for all but one play, methodically moving the ball through Lions territory outside of a 22-yard Fields completion to tight end MyCole Pruitt, who slipped behind linebacker Ty Summers while Fields was moving outside of the pocket. After a holding call against defensive tackle Brodric Martin on the goal line, Perine stuffed it home on a read option from a yard out.
Hendon Hooker, making his home debut with the Lions, got the start over Nate Sudfeld to lead the Lions backup offense, but the first possession did not go as planned. The Lions picked up one first down on a nice extended play by Hooker, finding tight end Shane Zylstra, but took three straight sacks on the next set of downs, including a strip sack on third down, giving the ball to Pittsburgh at Detroit’s 35. Herbig got around starting right tackle Colby Sorsdal and slapped Hooker’s arm while he was cocking to throw, jarring it loose.
The Steelers starting offense got things started with a 60-yard touchdown drive lasting just over two minutes. Starting quarterback Russell Wilson converted a 3rd-and-11 with a 32 yard gain on a flag route to George Pickens, who easily separated from corner Essang Bassey. Two plays later, Cordarrelle Patterson took an off-tackle run to the left and made Brandon Joseph miss for the big touchdown run.
Pregame notes
The Lions will roll with the quarterback duo of Nate Sudfeld and Hendon Hooker as the two continue to battle for the backup spot behind Jared Goff. Campbell said Tuesday the last preseason game is critical for Hooker, who will be playing in his third NFL game ever and had to leave the first preseason game early.
“We want to get (Hooker) a real good look,” Campbell said. “We’d love to get him a lot of reps this week. I think the idea would be, you’d love to start him this week. I’d like to start him, and then it’s just a matter of how much does he play? Is it a couple of series and Nate goes in and then he’s back? Or is it a quarter or is it a half? But he’s going to get a really good look.”
TRENDING: Parents of Detroit Lions draft pick Giovanni Manu witness son play in person for 1st time
Rookie Sione Vaki has been one of the early stars of the first two preseason games as a receiving option out of the backfield and should handle plenty of work against Pittsburgh along with Craig Reynolds, Zonovan Knight and Jermar Jefferson. The depth options at receiver behind Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams and Kalif Raymond are fighting for a spot and the last game will determine who makes it between options like Donovan Peoples-Jones, Isaiah Williams and Daurice Fountain. The depth pieces on the offensive line, particularly the interior, will also be under a close look to find the last backup for Detroit’s top unit.
On defense, the main competition is at edge rusher and in the secondary. The final safety spot likely comes down to C.J. Moore and Brandon Joseph while Khalil Dorsey, Kindle Vildor and Steven Gilmore fight for a spot at cornerback. Isaac Ukwu, Mitchell Agude and Mathieu Betts will all get extensive playing time at edge to determine the final backups on the defensive line.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A federal district court has temporarily paused the closure of a glass factory in Charleroi, Washington County.
In a news release on Monday, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General said the court granted its office a temporary restraining order pausing the closure of the Anchor Hocking plant, which employs about 300 workers. The ruling prevents Anchor Hocking Holdings and Centre Lane Partners from removing equipment and other materials from the plant before the next scheduled hearing.
A hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction is scheduled for Nov. 12, the news release said.
“The closure of this longtime manufacturing hub will have permanent impact on the Charleroi community and surrounding neighborhoods, which depend on the plant for employment that is vital to the local economy and prosperity of families living there,” Attorney General Michele Henry said in the news release. “My office intervened in plans to close what is the only large-scale manufacturing operation in that area, and we are very pleased that the federal district court agreed with our position.”
In September, Anchor Hocking announced plans to close the plant and move its operations to Ohio. The announcement sent shockwaves through the community as the plant, which makes cookware like Pyrex, has been a fixture in the community.
Last month, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notices were sent to workers at the plant, telling one-third of that workforce that by December their services would no longer be required.
Workers previously rallied to save the glass plant and called on company leadership to sit down with them and work this out.
Pittsburgh and Allegheny County prepared Monday for the election-eve convergence of presidential candidates in the most unusual election in more than half a century.
Republican nominee Donald Trump is expected to speak at PPG Paints Arena, in Uptown, at around 6 p.m.
Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is expected to be at the Carrie Blast Furnace National Historic Landmark, in Swissvale, at some point in the evening.
“At this time, there are no election-related threats registered by our intel unit, which continues to monitor the situation,” said Chris Ragland, acting chief of police for Pittsburgh. He said he was unaware of any recent election-related threats, and that the bureau is prepared to respond to “First Amendment activity,” but doesn’t have reason to believe it needs to deploy extra officers to any specific parts of the city.
Pittsburgh police will be in charge of escorting Harris to Swissvale, but will not have meaningful involvement in security at that event. Harris was initially expected to speak at Point State Park, but plans shifted over the weekend. Ragland denied any involvement in the change of venue, or knowledge of the reasons behind it, but said it would “probably” make things easier for his bureau.
Pittsburgh police will respond to any reports of crimes at polling places within the city, Ragland said, but incidents that are election-related but are not crimes will be handled by the Allegheny County sheriffs.
Police will work their usual 10-hour shifts, but all days off in the coming days have been canceled. Campaigns won’t be billed for overtime paid to officers related to today’s events, but the Trump campaign will be billed for extra medic staffing this evening.
If any post-election protest emerges, the bureau is ready to coordinate with county, state and campus police forces, Ragland said. “We will not tolerate violence, and we will intervene when we see such.”
Spending the last evening here
Coming so late in an election in which more than 200,000 Allegheny County residents have already voted by mail and most minds appear to have been made up, the dueling rallies reflect desperation on both sides to get as many people to turn out tomorrow as possible.
“If you can get 100, 200, 500 people to turn out who would not have voted in a state like Pennsylvania, that’s a good use of your time,” said Christopher Beem, managing director of Penn State’s McCourtney Institute for Democracy. “Given that Pittsburgh and its surrounding areas have this tradition of going both ways, Democratic and Republican, it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if both campaigns have a similar read on that situation.”
Though Allegheny County’s 526,000 registered Democrats nearly double the Republican ranks, the GOP last year came within 10,000 votes of winning the election for county executive.
In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden won Pennsylvania, besting Trump by around 80,000 votes. This year, the seven swing states are polling as neck-and-neck contests, and Pennsylvania is the largest.
“It’s conceivable for both of them to come up with a winning ticket that excludes Pennsylvania, but it’s much, much harder,” said Beem. “You basically have to get all the other big states. You have to get Michigan and Georgia and North Carolina.”
The polls in Pennsylvania, Beem said, are “so close that this kind of event, they’re not expecting to make a huge impact, but it’s worth it.”
Anticipating “large crowds and road closures,” the Pittsburgh Public Schools announced Friday that students would have a half day.
The county and city announced they’d dismiss non-essential employees at noon. (The County Office Building was to remain open until 4:30 p.m. for ballot returns.)
Check back with PublicSource this evening for coverage of the candidates’ events.
Charlie Wolfson is PublicSource’s local government reporter and a Report for America corps member. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org or at @chwolfson on Twitter.
Rich Lord is PublicSource’s managing editor. He can be reached at rich@publicsource.org.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Jared Triolo has been named the winner of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award for National League utility players.
Triolo is the 21st member of the Pittsburgh Pirates to win a Gold Glove Award since they began being presented in 1958.
During the 2024 season, Triolo played games at third base, second base, shortstop, first base, and right field.
The Gold Glove Award was handed out to utility players for the first time in 2022.
Triolo accumulated six Defensive Runs Saved while playing second base this past season, the team said, citing FanGraphs data.
A Pirates player has won a Gold Glove Award in three of the past four seasons with Ke’Bryan Hayes winning the award in 2023 and Jacob Stallings winning it in 2021.
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